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MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE

 Artistic Activism Mobilizes
Affect and Effect
Artistic Activism is a dynamic practice combining the creative
power of the arts to move us emotionally with the strategic
planning of activism necessary to bring about social change.

Art and activism do different work in the world. Activism, as

the name implies, is the activity of challenging and changing
power relations. There are many ways of doing activism and
being an activist, but the common element is an activity
targeted toward a discernible end. Simply put, the goal of
activism is action to create an Effect.

Art, on the other hand, tends not to have such a clear target.
Its hard to say what art is for or against; its value often lies in
providing us perspective and new ways to envision our world.
Its effect is often subtle and hard to measure, and confusing or
contradictory messages can be layered into the work. Good
art always contains a surplus of meaning: something we cant
quite describe or put our finger on, but moves us nonetheless.
Its goal, if we can even use that word, is to stimulate a feeling,
move us emotionally, or alter our perception. Art, equally
simply stated, is an expression that generates Affect.

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At first glance these aims seem at odds with one another.
NOTES
Activism moves the material world, while Art moves the heart,
body and soul. In fact, however, they are complimentary.
Social change doesnt just happen, it happens because people
decide to make change. As any seasoned activist can tell you,
people just dont decide to change their mind and act
accordingly, they are personally moved to do so by
emotionally powerful stimuli. Were moved by affective
experiences to do physical actions that result in concrete
effects: Affect leads to Effect. We might think of this as
Affective Effect, or perhaps, Effective Affect. Or, combined in
a new word, ffect (pronounced Aye-fect).
Artistic Activism is a practice aimed at generating ffect:
emotionally resonant experiences that lead to measurable
shifts in power.
Artistic Activism Thrives in the
Contemporary Landscape
The first rule of guerilla warfare is to know the terrain and use
it to your advantage. Today, this doesnt mean studying maps
of the mountains of Cuba or the jungles of Vietnam. Our
modern political terrain is a highly mediated landscape of signs
and symbols, story and spectacle. To operate successful on
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NOTES this cultural topography we need to observe, analyze and
respond creatively. We need to be Artistic Activists.

We may like to think of politics as a purely rational business,

where sensible people logically discuss and debate the issues
at hand, come to a reasoned decision, and then judiciously act.
Certainly this is how politics has been taught to us in our civics
classes. But as recent developments in cognitive science
suggest, humans dont think and behave this way: we make
sense of our world through stories and symbols that frame the
information we receive and then act accordingly. The
principles governing civic action are more likely to be found in
the worlds of popular culture and entertainment, and artistic
expression and reception, than in textbooks of political
science.

Acknowledging that the political landscape is also a cultural

landscape opens up new terrain to work upon. Whereas art
tends to be limited to museums and galleries, and activism to
street demonstrations and state houses, artistic activism is at
home in town squares and shopping malls, on billboards or
through social mediaas well as galleries and state houses.
This new terrain, neither overtly arty or political is more
familiar and safer to an audience than a museum or a rally, and
thus makes artistic activism more attractive, approachable,
and friendly than traditional art or activist practices. Artistic
activism as an affective image, performance, or experience
is also well suited for an age of cell phone cameras and social
networks. People dont share policy papers, they share things
that move them.

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 Artistic Activism Has Been Used Artistic Activism is
Throughout History Peaceful and Persuasive
While Artistic Activism is particularly well suited for the
A final note. Artistic activism, as a cultural approach, is
contemporary moment, throughout history the most
inherently non-violent. Although groups have used creative
effective civic actors have married the arts with campaigns for
methods for violent ends (most infamously the Nazi Party) the
social change, using aesthetic approaches to provide a critical
tactic itself is peaceful. Artistic activism is aimed at hearts and
perspective on the world as it is and imagine the world as it
minds, not bodies or buildings. The goal is not to force
could be. In the struggle for Civil Rights for African Americans
compliance, which art can never do, but to persuade by
in the US, for example, activists drew upon the stories and
creating moving experiences that prompt people to question
songs and participatory culture of the black churches, staged
the world as it is, imagine a world as it could be, and join
media-savvy stunts like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her
together to make that new world real. Artistic activism is
seat on a segregated bus, played white racist reaction against
ffective power.
peaceful protesters as a sympathetic passion play during the
campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama, and, most
famously, used imaginative imagery (and popular cultural
references) in a speech to call America to task for its racist
past and articulate a dream of a better future. While Martin
Luther King Jr is now largely remembered for his example of
moral courage, social movement historian Doug McAdams
estimation of Kings genius for strategic dramaturgy, likely
better explains the success of his campaigns.
From Jesuss use of parables to engage his audience, to
dramatizing this is what democracy looks like in public
squares around the world in 2011, working artfully makes
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Artistic activism draws from culture, to create culture, to
impact culture. An artistic activist might craft an image that
prompts people to rethink how we look at reality, or stage a
performance which calls into question what values and
institutions are normal in a society, or create an artifact
prefiguring an alternative, better world. In each case,
expanding, and prodding what we consider normal, possible,
or even conceivable. If artistic activism is successful, the
larger culture shifts in ways big and small.
To change the world we need to imagine what a changed world
might look like. These utopian visions are useful for setting
pragmatic goals and concrete objectives, and provide a
loadstone to orient our direction so we dont get lost. Most
important, these ideas and ideals inspire us to get up and out
in the morning to change the world, and attract others to work
with us.
Articulating our dreams is not easy, as our very ideas of what is
possible are shaped by the culture of the world we want to
change. But, as Audre Lorde once wrote Poetry is the way we
help give name to the nameless so it can be thought. Art is a
means by which to imagine the unimaginable, and artistic
activism is the medium that can suggest it as a possibility.
Through sound and image and movement, artistic activism
can conjure up a vision of what could be in the future and
communicate it to others in the here and now. Art gives us the
vision. Activism helps us make the road to get there.
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activism effective. Many activists know this intuitively, but by
naming it artistic activism we take what would be a folk art
and turn it into a defined practice -- giving it the attention and
study it demands.
Artistic Activism Creates Openings
Art and activism often conforms to expectations -- and for
many people those expectations are, unfortunately, negative.
Artistic activism is activism that doesnt look like activism and
art that doesn't look like art.
The ability of artistic activism to surprise us to show up in
unlikely places (e.g. not a gallery) or take on unfamiliar forms
(e.g. not a protest march) provides an opportunity to disrupt
peoples preconceived notions of art and protest, and their
predetermined ideas about the messages we are trying to
communicate. Artistic activism creates an opportunity to
bypass seemingly fixed political ideas and moral ideals and
remap cognitive patterns. Surprise is a moment when hearts
can be touched and minds reached, and both changed.
Artistic Activisms ability to escape easy categorization is a
benefit in societies where protest is commonplace. Whereas
traditional forms of protest, like marches, need to constantly
increase in size or scope, or descend into violence, to become
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noticed (and newsworthy), the creative innovation at the heart Artistic activism is not as simple as privileging creativity over
of artistic activism provides something uncommon, or out of clipboards. Petitions still need to be signed and people need to
place, that can attract attention and become memorable. The canvass doorto-door, marches need to be planned and
boundary slippage of artistic activism works equally well in politicians lobbied. But making space for creativity makes the
repressive regimes where overt political protest is prohibited, necessary drudgery more bearable, and keeps people in the
yet artistic practices are tolerated. Slipping under the radar, organization longer. And through the practice of artistic
artistic activism is not identified as "politics" to authorities activism it just may be possible that a more creative way of
while still being able to communicate a social message to the canvassing can be discovered.
public.
Artistic Activism is Accessible Artistic Activism is About
Im not political, is a phrase one hears often; its a rare
the Long Game
person, however, that doesnt express themself through
Creating and sustaining lasting change demands a change in
some form of creativity. We go dancing on the weekends,
values, beliefs and patterns of behavior, that is: cultural
perform songs in our churches, compose raps with our
change. While changing laws and policies are essential, laws
friends, make memes for social media, customize bicycles,
will not be followed nor policies enacted unless people have
assemble scrapbooks, sew quilts, and prepare dinners for the
internalized the values that lie behind them. And while
table. While it takes years of professional training to practice
marches, rallies and protests are important, they wont have
(or even understand) law, policy analysis, or governmental
lasting impact unless the issues resonate with people. Culture
lobbying, creativity is a skill we all already possess and can
lays the foundation for politics. It outlines the contours of our
learn to hone and use to great ffect.
very notions of what is desirable and undesirable, possible and
impossible. Culture makes us, as we make it, and culture is the
Indeed, well-honed cultural creativity and artistic expression is
base material of Artistic Activism.
often the possession of those youth, the poor, people of
color, and migrants that are most marginalized from formal
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Artistic Activism Energizes
People and Organizations
Caring about the world is hard work. We open our eyes to
things other people do their best to ignore, and in our work we
constantly fight against forces greater than us: ancient
prejudices, entrenched institutions, well-funded opposition.
As an activist it is easy to get burnt out as our life becomes
increasingly defined by the struggle. As an artist its easy to
get frustrated that the creative work we do has little impact on
the issues we care about so deeply. Artistic activism is a way
to connect with the artist inside of every activist and the
activist within every artist, redrawing connections so that
artistic activism generates fun and pleasure rather than
sacrifice and guilt and, in the process, reintegrating and re-
energizing our lives.
Re-energized people revitalize the institutions they work
within. In this way, artistic activism is a form of organizational
self-care. The purpose and play of artistic activism can
reanimate dead cultural and civic organizations like
museums, galleries, and NGOs from the inside out but also
from the outside in: creativity is infectious. As fun as artistic
activism is for those doing it, its also exciting for those people
on the outside experiencing it.
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spheres of politics, law, and education. Artistic activism plays
to their strengths.
Even with the best intentions, artists and activists can be
paternalistic toward those whom they are trying to assist.
They, as experts, have the knowledge and creativity which
they bestow upon disadvantaged people. Artistic activism
does not work this way. Here the relationship is reversed: it is
the people who possess what is valuable. While culture is
something we all share, we dont all share the same culture.
The building blocks the symbols and stories that give artistic
activism its content and form differ from people to people
and place to place. When it comes to local culture the locals
are the real experts.
Activism is foreign to many people, and a bit daunting: it
seems to take too much commitment, too much risk, and too
much time. (Oscar Wilde once quipped that the problem with
socialism is that it wastes too many evenings on meetings.)
But thats why mixing arts and activism works so well. Because
we all have a creative life, using the arts and culture, more
broadly in activist work lowers barriers to entry. Culture, as
something familiar, can work as an access point through which
organizers can approach and engage people who are
otherwise alienated by institutional systems like voting,
lobbying, political campaigning, and legislation. Unlike fine
arts or political policy, artistic activism takes no specialized
knowledge for an audience to get it. And, as an art form,
artistic activism is always open to multiple meanings and,
thus, multiple ways for the audience to connect.
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Because artistic activism crosses boundaries, it not only
opens up multiple access points for creators and audiences,
but also for mass media outlets who may cover events in both
arts and politics sections, and for funders who can support
projects with arts and culture grants as well as through social
justice portfolios.
Artistic Activism Stimulates
a Culture of Creativity
There is an art to every practice, activism included. Its what
distinguishes the innovative from the routine, the elegant
from the mundane. Creativity is essential to good organizing.
It enables activists to imagine new tactics, strategies and
goals to keep campaigns fresh and make them more effective.
At one time protest marches and mass rallies were powerful
innovations; today they are routine. Millions of people may
have marched in the streets protesting the American War in
Iraq, but public sentiment turned against the war when the
mother of a dead soldier Cindy Sheehan -- staged a dramatic
encampment outside the presidents vacation home. This was
artistic activism.
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But artistic activism is more than coming up with creative
tactics it stimulates a culture of creativity that extends from
tactics through goals to overall campaign planning. Drawing
upon creative processes familiar to arts and design, artistic
activism encourages blue sky brainstorming, quick sketches,
multiple iterations, rapid prototyping, and a spirit of play -- as
well as risk, and the acceptance of failure. Approached as a
creative process, we are more apt to see multiple solutions to
problems, and new pathways to attain our objectives. Free to
experiment, we may identify and solve problems we didnt set
out to solve, end-running the commonplace framing of
politics to open up new possibilities for interpretation and
action.
Artistic activism, as an art form, is forever doing things and
creating reactions that are unintended -- what we might call
an abundance of ffect. Rather than seeing these
unintended consequences as a detriment to be ignored or
controlled, the creative process of artistic activism
encourages us to notice, reflect, and be open to new creative
and political possibilities.